Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My old Deere 726 is on it's lastlegs. Looking at a $300 repair. I am considering buying a new Ariens in the next day or two. Local dealers have the following blowers:

2013 Deluxe 30 with the trigger differential lock and I think the 342cc briggs engine for $1399

2014 Deluxe 30 with new Auto Turn and the 291cc LCT engine for $1299 at another dealer which I don't really want to buy from if I can help it

2013 Platinum 30 with the Traction Control differential and the 342cc briggs engine for $1599

2014 Platinum 30 with new Auto Turn and the 414cc LCT engine for $1599

I am leaning toward the Platinum 30 for the extra power although the 2013 deluxe 30 has the larger Briggs engine if I want the trigger differential vs auto turn.

 I guess it comes down to Briggs vs LCT and autoturn vs trigger. On the engines, two dealers I have talked to have said they have had no real problems with the LCT engines except for some availability on carb parts.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help

Thanks for all the replies. I bought the 2013 Platinum 13 with the Briggs engine and the auto traction control. The dealer had both the 13 and 14 model. Ariens changed the wheelbase on the new one and it felt so much heavier and hard to manhandle than the 2013 and I am pretty strong. The 2014 weighs around 275 lbs compared to the 2013's 250 but the changes to the wheelbase made them feel much much different than the 25 lbs. I did like the larger tires and the AutoTurn on the new model but the handling was the big deciding factor for me. Again thanks to everyone for their feedback. Dennis

recently bought the ariens deluxe 28" 921030 with the ax 254 cc engine and the atc drive. the 28" model weighs 235 lbs just 6 lbs more than the 24" deluxe. the engine is rated at 12.5 ft lbs tq. and lct the engine supplier has it listed for 7.5 hp. i however used a formula to equate hp and it comes out to more like 8.5 hp. the formula is torque (12.5) times speed (3600 rpm) divided by 5252 = 8.568 hp. now does anybody definitively know the hp of the 254cc ax engine?

Don't know where you came up with that formula and I'm not saying it's wrong but I have always used this rule of thumb. I take the torque number say like in your case 12.5 and about 2/3 of that figure works out to 8.3hp. I don't remember where I got that info from but it gives me a quick ball park number.

i just googled horsepower formulas! http://www.iprocessmart.com/techsmart/formulas.htm